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dlau_twintowers410
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Posted: Sat Mar 21st, 2009 08:57 pm | 21st Post |
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cjustice wrote: Here’s the question – Do codes of ethics simply tell us what and what not to do?
When I thought about it, I couldn’t recite the code of ethics if you held a gun to my head. We give it out at academy graduations. Been a while… so I dug it out. If ethics are applied values (all us good UI&U students know that law enforcement hires with a our value pre-disposition in place) I think that the Law Enforcement code of ethics is really a combination of values and ethics - values being guiding principles and ethics addressing specific behavior.
Where the code says “protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation” that speaks to noble cause values. But “never accepting gratuities” that sounds like applied ethics to me. Here’s the full text:
As a Law Enforcement Officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all persons to liberty, equality and justice.
I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all; maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of my duty.
I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animosities or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime and with relentless prosecution of criminal, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities.
I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of the police service. I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself before God to my chosen profession...law enforcement.
There’s a good (short) article about the relevancy of codes like this titled “You Can Put Lipstick on a Code of Ethics - And it's still just words” click here.
Everyone be safe and see you in class...
Last edited on Sat Mar 21st, 2009 08:58 pm by dlau_twintowers410
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LaW410Brea
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Posted: Sat Mar 21st, 2009 09:03 pm | 22nd Post |
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cbakertwintowers410 wrote: Ethics are not something you can read in a book and learn. Ethics are something that is in you. You either have them or you don't. Police Officers are held to a higher standard. The public expect us to obey the laws that we enforce. Unfortunately, like all professions, there are always bad apples. Should those bad apples affect the way law enforcement is viewed? Should their actions/decisions dictate how the rest of us are treated by upper management? I believe in rules to govern law enforcement officers, but I hope that most of us have the ethics and the common sense to make the right decisions and not get caught up in noble cause corruption.
Amen to that !!
Do codes of ethics simply tell us what and what not to do?
I believe that even though the majority of us in law enforcement got into this profession because of our values; there are those that do not share those values.
Yes, I agree ethics is not something learned; but, rather a product of values already instilled in you. I believe the code of ethics is a reminder to us not to slide when we are tempted to. (Especially in situations like the 12th post.)
But, the reason we have laws is because someone did something that was wrong and a set of rules needed to be put into place. Unfortunately there are some in our profession that need guidelines like the code of ethics.
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dlau_twintowers410
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Posted: Sat Mar 21st, 2009 09:05 pm | 23rd Post |
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SteveS410Brea wrote: Rojas, do you feel that the Code of Ethics is not being drilled as much as it should be now? Watching and listing to some people conduct business, I wonder if they remember our oath....
Well, I remember it now that I've just looked at it. 
I think the organizational challenge is how to make this relevant to line officers instead of administrative “happy talk”
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LaW410Brea
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Posted: Sat Mar 21st, 2009 10:13 pm | 24th Post |
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dlau_twintowers410 wrote:
There’s a good (short) article about the relevancy of codes like this titled “You Can Put Lipstick on a Code of Ethics - And it's still just words” click here.
Thanks for sharing that with us. Great website.
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scottt410brea
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Posted: Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 12:25 am | 25th Post |
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| I would have to agree with Mr. Sanchez. A code of ethics would not be able to give us the ethical response to every situation one might encounter. It should, however, give us a general guideline that we could look to for help. Ethics, simply put, is doing the right thing when no one is looking. The question then becomes, what is the right thing, for each individual. That becomes a matter of upbringing. A written code of ethics should be in place to hold all of us accountable for our actions. And as any administrator could tell you; terminating or disciplining someone who has violated something that was written down and disseminated to all employees, is easier than if it was just a matter of opinion.
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scottt410brea
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Posted: Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 12:40 am | 26th Post |
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There was a comment made about ethics not being found in a book. I agree whole heartedly, but one persons idea of an ethical response to a situation might be different than another's. I don't know what a book could tell you, but I searched "ethics" in the "books" category on Amazon.com and got 298,469 matches. Someone's making money. 
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WWMCBrea410
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Posted: Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 01:23 am | 27th Post |
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Do codes of ethics simply tell us what and what not to do?
Absolutely not. Let's talk about gratituity(s). Where the COE may be pretty clear about a topic like personal gain, what about a free day at Knott's Berry Farm?
Too abstract? O.K. what about comparing free food to a half-price home courtesy of the HUD's government sponsored Officer Next Door program, in which you have to show an official identification to participate. The result is a 'sanctioned' or 'justifiable' personal gain. The COE is subject to interpretation, big time!
WWMCBrea410
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WWMCBrea410
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Posted: Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 01:34 am | 28th Post |
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scottt410brea wrote: I would have to agree with Mr. Sanchez. A code of ethics would not be able to give us the ethical response to every situation one might encounter. It should, however, give us a general guideline that we could look to for help. Ethics, simply put, is doing the right thing when no one is looking. The question then becomes, what is the right thing, for each individual. That becomes a matter of upbringing. A written code of ethics should be in place to hold all of us accountable for our actions. And as any administrator could tell you; terminating or disciplining someone who has violated something that was written down and disseminated to all employees, is easier than if it was just a matter of opinion.
How you are brought up is true. A written guideline is good. Agency specifics, fine. But the longer you are around anything, the more situations that will come up. Once I went to our professional standards sgt. with a situation in which I felt a decision could be made either way and not be an ethics infraction.
His EXPERIENCE helped me answer the question myself: If you really think it is the right thing to do, why are you asking me?
WWMCBrea410
Last edited on Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 01:37 am by WWMCBrea410
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ESanchez410Brea
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Posted: Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 06:35 am | 29th Post |
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WWMCBrea410 wrote: Do codes of ethics simply tell us what and what not to do?
Absolutely not. Let's talk about gratituity(s). Where the COE may be pretty clear about a topic like personal gain, what about a free day at Knott's Berry Farm?
Too abstract? O.K. what about comparing free food to a half-price home courtesy of the HUD's government sponsored Officer Next Door program, in which you have to show an official identification to participate. The result is a 'sanctioned' or 'justifiable' personal gain. The COE is subject to interpretation, big time!
WWMCBrea410
The Knotts Berry Farm thing. The same courtesy is given to firefighters and military personnell. In the case of firefighters - what is the implied conflict of interest? I can't think of any. Could'nt it be that Knott's Berry Farm management just wants to show appreciation for those that dedicate their lives to serve the common good? Why can't this same justification be openly accepted towards police personnell on equal terms?
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WWMCBrea410
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Posted: Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 06:45 am | 30th Post |
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ESanchez410Brea wrote: WWMCBrea410 wrote: Do codes of ethics simply tell us what and what not to do?
Absolutely not. Let's talk about gratituity(s). Where the COE may be pretty clear about a topic like personal gain, what about a free day at Knott's Berry Farm?
Too abstract? O.K. what about comparing free food to a half-price home courtesy of the HUD's government sponsored Officer Next Door program, in which you have to show an official identification to participate. The result is a 'sanctioned' or 'justifiable' personal gain. The COE is subject to interpretation, big time!
WWMCBrea410
The Knotts Berry Farm thing. The same courtesy is given to firefighters and military personnell. In the case of firefighters - what is the implied conflict of interest? I can't think of any. Could'nt it be that Knott's Berry Farm management just wants to show appreciation for those that dedicate their lives to serve the common good? Why can't this same justification be openly accepted towards police personnell on equal terms?
The ethics 'issue' is that you have to show your I.D. (they write down agency info when you go in) to get in free. Issue #2 is that the 'discount' is not available to the general public. Yet, airlines & hotels offer government discounts not available to the public when traveling on 'official business'. Without revealing what side of this issue I'm on, the bigger question would be is showing a badge/I.D. off-duty for personal gain o.k. under any circumstances, what are those circumstances and why? Don't think you'll find the IACP putting that one in writing....WWMCBrea410
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cbakertwintowers410
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Posted: Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 06:45 pm | 31st Post |
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| Sad but true. Unfortunately, as humans we feel the need to justify our actions. Especially if they fall below society's standards. While some officers have good intentions, the bottom line is, if you didn't get there honestly, then it probably wasn't ethical. If you have to "translate" the code of ethics into your way of thinking, then chances are you should choose a different solution.
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cbakertwintowers410
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Posted: Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 06:47 pm | 32nd Post |
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In response to the 15th post:
Sad but true. Unfortunately, as humans we feel the need to justify our actions. Especially if they fall below society's standards. While some officers have good intentions, the bottom line is, if you didn't get there honestly, then it probably wasn't ethical. If you have to "translate" the code of ethics into your way of thinking, then chances are you should choose a different solution.
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ktaliankounion
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Posted: Mon Mar 23rd, 2009 09:32 pm | 33rd Post |
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| I agree - and it is for the reasons you set forth that management and supervision receive recurrent training in this area, training that is more in depth, and more often, than a line employee. Management and supervision are those who employees emulate, when they can't locate, or are two lazy, to read their Code of Ethics.
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storres410brea
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Posted: Tue Mar 24th, 2009 12:48 am | 34th Post |
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| I agree that the law enforcement code of ethics are guidelines to assist an officer in making good sound decisions in the field. Although the code of ethics should be your business and not the departments, some officers allow them to enter. Some officers make bad decisions "off duty" that allow the department to have the last word based on their conduct. I also agree with you that one is either born with good ethics or not. The code of ethics are a subject that cannot be taught.
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dlau_twintowers410
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Posted: Tue Mar 24th, 2009 02:32 am | 35th Post |
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storres410brea wrote: I also agree with you that one is either born with good ethics or not. The code of ethics are a subject that cannot be taught.
I disagree.
I don't think a baby is born with ethics.
It's the duty of PARENTS to teach their children ethics - by act and deed, in addition to explanation. It's not easy, but I've done it. Without strong involved parenting, children grow up to be rudderless adults with a faulty moral compass to guide them.
When parents abdicate their responsibility – no one else can do it as well - if at all.
Not schools, not religion, not the hood.
A lack of ethics in our young is a result of irresponsible parenting and families - and that’s what we see today.
It’s a cycle in the destruction of civilized society.
Every life has a window of opportunity when ethics CAN BE TAUGHT. Some get it, some don't.
- my 4 cents
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mmejiatwintowers410
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Posted: Tue Mar 24th, 2009 05:19 am | 36th Post |
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I agree with dlau (post 35)
I too have children that were not born with ethics, in fact, we have to instill morals/values into their little minds and give them a foundation so they may someday be able to chose between right and wrong, as well as be able to make a sound decision in whatever comes their way...with that said I myself looked up the definition of ethics "the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.."
I believe that code of ethics is a reminder or guideline if you will, that applies to everyone, although a lot people in LE would like to think they don't need a reminder...
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics
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jhardin410brea
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Posted: Tue Mar 24th, 2009 03:53 pm | 37th Post |
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| I believe ethics is something that is taught to us when we are children. Our parents, guardians, teachers show us the way to behave and conduct ourselves with people, school and social settings. Ethics is not something that can be taught to us when we are adults.
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VSIORDIA410BREA
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Posted: Tue Mar 24th, 2009 05:17 pm | 38th Post |
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A code of ethics is necessary to serve as guidelines as to how we "should" behave. They are a set of norms which is accepted within that culture or/and organization. As a Police Officer, our set of ethics set us apart from others. We are absolutely held to a higher standard and we have to answer for our behavior. Rules and regulations tell us what to do. Why we have to follow these rules is based on ethics which are acceptable at that time. Therefore, it is safe to say ethics are always changing. So my answer is, no. Ethics do not tell us what to do (thats what rules are for), ethics attempt to explain why we should or should not do something.
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VSIORDIA410BREA
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Posted: Tue Mar 24th, 2009 05:44 pm | 39th Post |
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I agree with you that this topic is confusing and kind of hypocritical by the higher ups (whomever they may be). But in an attempt to make sense of it, maybe its because they don't want us accepting "freebes" while in uniform because of the message it sends to the public. But off duty we're just regular people in plain clothes, on our own time, not representing any agency, just taking advantage of a promotion like any other coupon cutter.
Just playing devil's advocate!
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mconnortwintowers410
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Posted: Tue Mar 24th, 2009 07:38 pm | 40th Post |
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| I believe that Ethics is something that is programed into you (your being) early on in life. The L.A. Sheriff's Department has "Our Core Values," "Our Mission" statement, and "Our Creed," as well as the Code of Ethics. When your a member of any organization, you are expected to act a certain way. Most organizations have some form of document that they use as a guide, in order to guide you in a company belief. It's hard to believe, but the Gang Members in our County Jails and State Prisons have a "Code." I don't know if I would call it ethical. All I know is, that police officers who fail to believe in and/or embrace some form of Code of Ethics at some point, potentially face and/or either receive discipline, discharge, or a jail sentence.
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